Animan : Revelation of a Savage Humanity
Animan is a deeply introspective series born in a unique context: the post-COVID era. Through this work, Sacha Goldberger explores the inner transformations brought about by the pandemic, particularly the relationship we have with ourselves, our appearance, and our animal essence. This project, created using medium-format film with overprinting techniques, offers a reflection on our stripped-down humanity, exposing our latent animality and heightened awareness of our own mortality.
A Revelation of Animality
The Animan series is rooted in a time when, for many, social conventions and self-representation were cast aside. During the lockdown, physical contact with others faded, and dressing habits became obsolete. People were left to face themselves, often shedding the social masks they wore daily. Sacha Goldberger captured this transition by photographing individuals in their human guise while overlaying elements of their “animality” onto their portraits: fur, skeletons, and other details that reveal a more primitive aspect of their being.
This overprinting process on the same film creates a visual symbiosis where the human model and the animal coexist, symbolizing the duality that emerged during this period of isolation and introspection. The characters, stripped of their social shells, reveal what lies beneath the surface: a raw truth, an unvarnished reality of mortal beings tied to nature by instincts and ancestral fears.
A Meditation on Mortality
The series also serves as a contemplation of mortality, a theme intensely felt during the pandemic. By incorporating animal skeletons into his images, the photographer underscores the fragility of life, a sentiment that grew more pronounced as death tolls were reported daily. Death, once a distant concept for many, suddenly became closer, forcing everyone to confront their ephemeral existence. The often-somber photographs in this series reinforce this atmosphere of contemplation and gravity.
A Work of Emotion and Sensitivity
Unlike other narrative works by Sacha Goldberger, Animan is distinguished by its purely emotional approach. Rather than telling a specific story or crafting a philosophical tale, the artist aims primarily to capture a feeling, a visceral emotion that reflects the collective experience of this unique period. The prints, created using platinum-palladium (a rare process allowing subtle nuances in blacks and grays), give the work a rich texture and visual depth that amplify emotions, creating an immediate and intense connection with the viewer.
The series is marked by its minimalist aesthetic and composition, representing a departure from the photographer’s previous, often more colorful and narrative-driven projects. Here, the focus is on the essence of being, on that part of animality and vulnerability that everyone carries within. Animan is thus a work that does not seek to please or entertain but rather to provoke introspection, to make the viewer feel that moment of “grace” where the brutal reality of existence overshadows superficial appearances.
A Contemporary Resonance
Ultimately, Animan reflects a period where, despite the loss of many landmarks, art and sensitivity reclaimed an essential place in our lives. During this phase of uncertainty, many turned to reading, music, and cinema, rediscovering the value of aesthetic and emotional experiences. Although society quickly resumed its frenetic pace after the lockdown, the impact of this period on our perception of art remains palpable. With this series, Sacha has captured that fleeting moment when humanity revealed its most authentic, most vulnerable, yet strongest face.
Here, we find a work that is less a narrative than a sensory experience, an exploration of animality, death, and human resilience through the lens of photographic art. Animan is not just a series of images but an invitation to feel and reflect on our human condition in all its complexity
Carole Schmitz
Website: sachagoldberger.com
Instagram: sachagoldberger
